Monthly Archives: February 2007

We Have Great Students (and Alumni)

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

One of our recent LL.M. graduates, and a former student of mine, Dr. Daniel Schnabl, LL.M., has published a book with the imposing title of Die Anhörungsrüge nach § 321a ZPO. Gewährleistung von Verfahrensgrundrechten durch die Fachgerichte which apparently translates as “The Appeal for the Right to Be Heard According to § 321a of the German Code of Civil Procedure. The Guarantee of Basic Procedural Rights in the Courts.”

Here's the blurb:

The right to be heard is one of the essential guarantees in court proceedings granted by Article 103 I of the German Basic Law. Daniel Schnabl examines the new Section 321a, which was changed as of January 1, 2005 and provides an additional safeguard for the right to be heard in the German Code of Civil Procedure and in other procedural codes. Thus the significance of this topic transcends the code of civil procedure. The author gives detailed answers to legal and constitutional issues which are related to this new regulation. In conclusion, he examines whether or not the current version of Section 321a of the German Code of Civil Procedure is compatible with the rule of real legal protection which ensues from the general right to have recourse to a court. The author received an award from the “Dr. Feldbausch-Stiftung” for this thesis.

I'm sure it's just the start of a glittering academic career.

Posted in U.Miami | Comments Off on We Have Great Students (and Alumni)

Random Fact

Posted on February 27, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Rudy_Giuliani.jpgferret.jpg

Rudy Giuliani hates ferrets, and ferret-owners too. (Click for a link to the amazing audio clip.)

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | 1 Comment

What a Strange Question

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Stevens.jpgThe Law Blog Question of the Day: What’s the deal with lawyers who wear bow ties?

What kind of a question is that?

Bow ties, in addition to being natty, take less storage space in your closet. Plus it is very hard to spill soup on them, reducing cleaning costs (and, given that silk is so hard to clean, reducing the risk of ruining a favorite tie).

And Justice Stevens wears them.

What more do you need to know?

The only times I wear one of those long flappy things are for funerals (bow ties are too cheerful for funerals) and before trial courts (juries, and even trial court judges may have unpredictable reactions).

Posted in Law: Everything Else | 5 Comments

All Hail the Conservapedia

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Read all about the Conservapedia. But not while drinking hot coffee.

PS. As far as I can tell the Conservapedia is not intended as a joke, although some commentators have been less than respectful.

Posted in Completely Different | Comments Off on All Hail the Conservapedia

What the Law of the Sea Teaches Us About the Regulation of the Information Ocean

Posted on February 26, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

On Friday I gave a short talk at a conference organized to honor my colleague Bernard Oxman, who is taking up one of our very rare chairs here at UM law in this, his thirtieth year as a UM professor. (Unlike most law schools, we don't have a tradition of having chaired professorships. That may slowly be changing, fundraising willing.)

Every panelist was asked to respond to an essay Bernie wrote for the centennial volume of the American Journal of International Law. Unfortunately, Bernie's essay was about the Law of the Sea, a subject in which he is a (the?) leading expert, but about which my ignorance is vast and deep.

Thus, the title of this essay, “What the Law of the Sea Teaches Us About the Regulation of the Information Ocean.”

The audience was polite, even kind, about my remarks, so I'm posting the text (without footnotes) here. I'd sort of like to publish the footnoted version somewhere, as it tickles me to have written, however tangentially, about the law of the sea, but I have no idea where to send this.

Continue reading →

Posted in Talks & Conferences | 1 Comment

If True, There is No Way to Spin This as a Smart Move

Posted on February 25, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

The following item is from the Inter Press Service, an organization that I don't know much about. According to the not-100%-reliable Wikipedia, IPS is an Italian-based organization dedicated to giving third world news and journalists more prominence. The fact of the raid is also reported by the International Federation of Journalists. What is most disturbing, though, is the all-too-plausible account of what motivates these raids quoted below; how much credence you give this, despite its plausibility, must turn at least in part on what one makes of the source.

IRAQ: Another U.S. Military Assault on Media

BAGHDAD, Feb 23 (IPS) – Iraqi journalists are outraged over yet another U.S. military raid on the media.

U.S. soldiers raided and ransacked the offices of the Iraq Syndicate of Journalists (ISJ) in central Baghdad Tuesday this week. Ten armed guards were arrested, and 10 computers and 15 small electricity generators kept for donation to families of killed journalists were seized.

This is not the first time U.S. troops have attacked the media in Iraq, but this time the raid was against the very symbol of it. Many Iraqis believe the U.S. soldiers did all they could to deliver the message of their leadership to Iraqi journalists to keep their mouth shut about anything going wrong with the U.S.-led occupation.

“The Americans have delivered so many messages to us, but we simply refused all of them,” Youssif al-Tamimi of the ISJ in Baghdad told IPS. “They killed our colleagues, closed so many newspapers, arrested hundreds of us and now they are shooting at our hearts by raiding our headquarters. This is the freedom of speech we received.”

Some Iraqi journalists blame the Iraqi government.

“Four years of occupation, and those Americans still commit such foolish mistakes by following the advice of their Iraqi collaborators,” Ahmad Hassan, a freelance journalist from Basra visiting Baghdad told IPS. “They (the U.S. military) have not learned yet that Iraqi journalists will raise their voice against such acts and will keep their promise to their people to search for the truth and deliver it to them at any cost.”

There is a growing belief in Iraq that U.S. allies in the current Iraqi government are leading the U.S. military to raid places and people who do not follow Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's directions.

And these same people think they are smart enough to avoid become Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz's puppets? (Have you read Sy Hersh’s latest yet? You really should.)

Posted in Iraq | Comments Off on If True, There is No Way to Spin This as a Smart Move